Tag: Cyprus

Syrians in Cyprus: How These People Operate!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Editor’s note: Thanks to reader ‘Pungentpeppers’ for pulling together some important information for us in this guest post.

Their demands and signs like these will surely endear them to the people of Cyprus and Europe (not!). Photo and story: http://cyprus-mail.com/2014/12/30/refugees-say-theyre-at-breaking-point/#prettyPhoto

 

Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Cyprus say that they are “at a breaking point”.  You might remember hearing about them.  In September, 337 of them were headed – illegally – to Italy when their boat broke down.  The passengers described their ordeal, “We spent days at sea with no food and no water. There were so many people on the boat. We called it the journey of death.”

You would think that they would be grateful for being rescued.  They weren’t.  A passing cruise liner rescued them and took them to the nearest port, in Cyprus.  That’s when the group from Syria threw their first hissy fit.  They refused to get off the ship and demanded that the crew take them to Italy.  It did not matter that there were hundreds of paying passengers on the ship who had to get to their destinations.  They would not relent – until an elite group of Cypriot riot police arrived in force.

Since then the group have been enlightening the public about their financial dealings.  Some paid as much as $8,000 (6,400 euros) each for their first illegal boat rides.  Others, including children, paid $6,000 (4,900 euros).  You would think that perhaps they might have figured out that paying a lot of money to a lawbreaking smuggler is not a good idea.  But about two weeks ago, several from the group gave one of their own around $5,000 (4,000 euros) each after he promised he could get them off Cyprus and into mainland Europe. They had collected the sums from their apparently well-off relatives in Syria and Europe.  The would-be smuggler, however, disappeared along with the money. [I wonder which European country he went to?]

The group – who are staying in tents at a former military camp – are not happy campers.  One member of the group hung himself recently.  Only about 20 agreed to remain in Cyprus.  The rest are still holding out for Europe.

The other day, the group organized a demonstration with signs written in English.  One sign, “We want to live in safe country”.  Another sign goes further “We want the freedom of choose the country in which we want to live”.  (Ah, they must be Soros’ “globalists”!)  One protester complained that they cannot afford the fees to apply for residency in Cyprus.  That’s 70 euros or $85 – small change compared to $8,000 and perhaps an additional $5,000 apiece that these people paid before.  Why don’t they call their relatives again?

Members of the group complained that they expected to stay in hotels in Cyprus – not tents.  One woman, when she saw the tents, fell on the ground crying and shouting saying “we ran from death and now we were will endure a slow death, here at the camp”.  If they don’t like the tents, since they have thousands of dollars and apparently rich relatives, why don’t they pay for hotel rooms?  It’s the slow season in Cyprus and prices are low.

Yet, they still hold out for Dreamland Europe.  I hate to break it to them – but there is no housing there either.  Germany with its freezing climate is putting refugees in shipping containers.  The Swiss house asylum seekers underground, many to a room, in military bunkers.  In Sweden – unless you are willing to go to the far north – you will likely wind up sharing a kitchen and sleeping in a tiny apartment along with several other families.  In France, in places like Calais, you can find refugees living exposed to the elements, cooking and sleeping in tent camps.  [Take a look at this advertisement for one such accommodation.  It’s in French but has photos.  The amenities include neither water, nor electricity, but it offers a good view of the Calais “jungle”. Your bed is a scrap of carpet, your dining table is a shipping pallet.]

Somali woman lived on a bench!

And in Britain, times have changed.  Perhaps formerly a refugee could hope to get a council house.  Nowadays, due to massive immigration, housing has become a sorry situation.  Many people rent beds in garden sheds – or sleep in caravans.  Many others are homeless.  This year, one older Somali woman was reduced to living on a bench for nine months, while she was holding out for a council house.  [She used an umbrella for when it rained.]  Finally, one day when she was hospitalized, the local government removed even that small misused bit of accommodation.  See that story here at the Guardian.

We have an expression in the U.S., “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade”.  The Syrians should consider making lemonade.

Go here for a few other posts we have written about the problems with illegal aliens arriving on Cyprus.

Syrian refugees demand “rights” in Cyprus

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Invasion of Europe….

Syrian demonstrators gather to demand Cyprus close detention facilities for Syrians.

 

They sure aren’t going to endear themselves to the citizens of Cyprus or anywhere else in the European Union if they arrive by the thousands and demand “rights.”

From the Cyprus Mail:

MORE than 200 Syrian refugees marched to the Interior Ministry on Friday, protesting the treatment they receive from the state when it comes to human rights. [They look healthy and well-fed to me!—ed]

The refugees handed over a protest letter to a representative of the Interior Ministry, asking for the release of all Syrian refugees from the Menoyia detention centre and the termination of detention practice when it comes to refugees from Syria.

They also demanded a solution to the problems they are facing in Cyprus, in terms of employment, living conditions, the procedure for evaluating asylum applications and granting international protection status.

Go here for all of our posts on the ‘invasion of Europe.’

Cyprus: Iranian hunger-strikers demand good jobs

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

No farm work for these ‘asylum seekers’ or they will kill themselves!

Iranian hunger strikers in Cyprus. Do they look like they haven’t eaten in 52 days?

Sheesh, do you believe this one!  From Cyprus Mail  (hat tip: ‘pungentpeppers’):

AS THEY enter day 52 of their hunger strike and the fourth day without water, Iranian political refugees who are camped outside the Interior Ministry asking to be granted citizenship or residency, warn that they won’t back down.

All the petitioners are political refugees, having fled their countries out of fear for their lives and that of their family members.

“I’d rather die here than give up. We can’t live like that anymore”, one of the strikers told the Cyprus Mail, pointing out that they just want what they are entitled to by international law. “We are recognised political refugees. We fled our countries, some of us over ten years ago. We have been trying to get long term residency status or citizenship for years, so we can move legally to other European countries. We have friends and family in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and other countries. Some of us just want to leave, not stay here. We don’t want money. We are qualified, we want to work and contribute”, he said.

The four hunger strikers are Muhammad Altaf and Asadollah Panahimehr, who have been camped out at the Ministry of Interior for over a month, and friend Salah Chanim who joined them recently.  [I guess they aren’t Christian Iranians.—ed]

Surprise (NOT!)  They got the attention of the UNHCR which expressed sympathy for the extortionists!

The strikers were visited yesterday by Damtew Dessalegne, representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, who expressed his sympathy and support for their cause.

No farm work for me said Muhammad Altaf:

The minister also commented on the fact that one of the refugees, who has been out of work for three years, hasn’t registered with the unemployment office. Hasikos claims that the man refuses to register because the office won’t find him a job fitting his qualifications. “The Interior ministry cannot ensure that anyone, local or immigrant, would be given a job according to his qualifications”, he remarked.

The man in question, Altaf, is a software engineer and said he was told he could only work on farms.

Check out the comments!  Several suggest they don’t look like they are starving. One suggests they go back to Iran and fight to save their country from the fanatics.  Here is a good one from ‘Almostbroke’ wanting answers to some questions:

Did they arrive at immigration at the airport ? Did they present documentation? Did they comply with the Dublin Convention ! or are they like a lot of other so called refugees ,egged on by self appointed NGOs like KISA, to ´make it up as they go along´as usual ! Flout a countries immigration laws and then expect specialist treatment, its happening in every EU country where there are generous Social Welfare benefits.

Let’s see, farm work? or kill myself? farm work? or kill myself?  What would a logical and legitimate refugee choose?

Analyst: Europe unprepared for potential large scale exodus from Egypt

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Writing at World Review, economic analyst Bernard Siman asks whether Europe could handle a new wave of “refugees” escaping Egypt this time.

Greece and Cyprus are the closest European countries to Egypt in Africa.

There has been little, if any, public discussion of possible scenarios, let alone serious crisis planning, whether politically, economically, administratively or militarily.

This is potentially a huge scale multi-dimensional problem.

Egypt’s 82.5 million population is separated from the Schengen area’s most eastern point of entry at Cyprus by 500 kilometres of Mediterranean Sea.

Any mass population movement fleeing Egypt’s violence – and in extremis civil war – will potentially be a game-changer at a time of serious and combined financial and economic crisis across Europe.

Austerity, deep financial cuts, widespread and vocal populist discontent about multiculturalism and immigration are affecting the eurozone and Cyprus and Greece in particular – the two Schengen members closest to the north Egyptian coast.

It is hard to say whether any naval crisis-planning exists to deal with such a sudden mass influx of Egyptian boat-people in the eastern Mediterranean.

Civil War in Egypt?

Egypt is descending into prolonged instability at best and civil war at worst. Both are likely to lead to increased migration through normal individual arrangements or mass exits.

The impact will not just be Europe’s to suffer….

See all of our posts on Malta (and Italy) going back almost 6 years and the problems they face with migrants arriving from Libya to get an idea of what Cyprus and Greece might face.  The US State Department has already set a dangerous precedent by transforming Malta’s illegal alien Africans into refugees being resettled now in your cities.  What is to stop them doing the same for (Muslim Brotherhood???) Egyptians arriving on Cyprus?